Sunshine Days in the Sunshine State

Dear Florida,

Thank you for the warm days last week and the hospitality that does not always make it to the front pages of our newspapers and media sources. You've got me wanting to throw my hat in the ring and franchise a Pollo Tropical except for the fact that central Arkansas is severely inundated with chicken joints on darn near every corner: the Miami version of the Cuban sandwich is worth every bit of $8.49 that I paid the other night. For my fellow barbecue addicts, I'll make sure to replicate the recipe and compare it to the Tampa one I shared to the blog a few years ago soon. Either way, someone is going home full.

When it comes to the food, I would be remiss if my inner Mikey did not make an appearance. As always, the conch fritters were on point and fried perfectly; I need to find a supplier to ship me a case to batter and fry at home. What surprised me is the barbecue game in the Sunshine State: Next time you find yourselves close to Wildwood, there is a walk-up BBQ joint called M&M Smokehouse Bar-B-Q that absolutely needs your attention! Their rib tips are going to send me back to the lab, their OG sauces is a bit spicier than my own, and the Florida Gator Gold mustard sauce is a whole lot sweeter than my Dub Shack BBQ’s The Ancestors. The hours are short (11-5 most days), so get there quickly!

With all of the sunshine, nonexistent state income taxes, and throngs of visitors clogging both Interstate 75 and Florida's Turnpike plus the women flying into the 305 for BBLs, one would think an encounter with Florida Man was to be a standard part of the trip but...ol' Gertrude tried to put an ice cube in my hot morning coffee by asking us where is a wheelchair every freaking morning like she had suspected every Black adult in our hotel was withholding a mobility device as she pillaged the yogurts, cream cheeses, and items that could be refrigerated. Needless to say, bless her heart. 

The Miami Zoo was nothing but phenomenal even as the bike carts that had a three-hour limit really gave us a workout the final hour!

Parakeets enjoyed feeding time

Caeli also got to feed the giraffes

It's safe to say that skipping leg day is never a good idea. 

Although I didn't take enough varying snapshots for those who find themselves living vicariously through my family - and sometimes living in the moment trumps standing behind a camera as the person capturing the memory is often the one missing out. Big up to the cousins who welcomed us back after five years away, Levar for dropping gems while watching the Heat come from behind to beat Cleveland, the kin we missed this time around, and the new Fortnite teammates Little Miss Sunshine picked up.

Whatcha know about Garcia sausages?

Do I have criticisms? Only a pair: Y'all got to be kidding me with the gentrification of Miami. I know big bank takes little bank,  yet forcefully uprooting residents who have been a part of the neighborhoods' fabric for half a century if not longer is not cool and whitewashes Perrine. My other beef is with the traffic on both the Turnpike and I-75: Where are the exit ramps to avoid sitting still for up to fifteen miles from the original incident? 

From Suwanee where I got my Sun Pass to Miami, Alligator Alley to the missed manatee park and fenced in panther crossings along I-75 in addition to crossing the Apalachicola River to re-enter the Central Time Zone, thanks for the warm days and cool stuff. We'll make it to Key West one day, I promise. Destin and the rest of the Emerald Coast shall possibly be the source of our next adventure depending on cost and climate - literally and politically. 

Til the next time, three Arkansans

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Chicken Parmesan

This is another long-awaited recipe that makes short work of the PK plus serves as another midweek classic: Just don't tell my mom that we're eating chicken more than once a week in Springhill Manor.

INGREDIENTS 

Chicken breasts 

Parmesan cheese

Marinara sauce

Italian bread crumbs, can be toasted*

Fire and Smoke Society's Sweet Peeper rub

Italian seasoning of your choice

STEP ONE. If frozen, thaw out the chicken breasts per packaging instructions. For the rest of us, open the package of chicken from the grocery store and trim off the ugly bits such as excess fat and the jagged pieces that will dry out way before it finishes.  Give it some Sweet Peeper love and set aside while you grate your own Parmesan cheese. [Sidebar: In the quest of cooking dinner, you may bypass shredding a whole block of Parmesan cheese and pick up the already shredded bag from the dairy department. Not many people are going to notice the easy call for a random Tuesday night meal - and to take food to the next level, save the magic for date night.]

STEP TWO. Light the cooking vessel of your choice and do so in a two-zone fire fashion. Once ready, place the chicken on the grill first over the coals for that extra pop of char before moving each breast to the indirect side. Chicken breasts are ready at 160 degrees, but...at 150 degrees, go ahead and add both the marinara sauce and parmesan cheese atop the chicken to continue cooking until the cheese melts. Rest for about fifteen minutes, and in the time it takes for pasta noodles to be al dente, dinner is ready!

This is such a great twist on a comfort food classic that I might not do it any other way! For the vegetarians/vegans among us, substitute the chicken for eggplant and get that special vegan cheese from Whole Foods or wherever the vegan aisles exist in Kroger and other slightly finer grocers than Wally World. Remember the Italian bread crumbs? I forgot them. Next time, I'll toast them and add them along with the other seasoning for an additional pop.

Thanks for reading this post. Although I joked about not telling my mom that we are eating chicken multiple times in one week, she can have this the next time she and Dad come down. As always, y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Salmon Bites

For something so easy and so quick, there really is no need for a special title. In the name of brevity, the ingredients and pictures are below. 

INGREDIENTS 

2 lbs salmon filets, cubed into 1"x1" squares*

All Day barbecue rub

Dub Shack BBQ’s Get Honey barbecue sauce 

*Some recipes call for skin-on filets, but like this one, skin-off works as well

STEP ONE. Using your favorite knife, cube each filet into 1"x1" morsels and set aside to shake a liberal heaping of All Day onto them. Once that is finished, place them onto a wire rack for easy transport. Don't forget to spray the rack with something nonstick - I used EVOO  - and bring them outside.

STEP TWO. When I say this is a fast cook, it is just that: fast. This is a direct fire cook on any grill but do not get distracted! At three minutes, temp the bites; if they are around 125 degrees, give them a drizzle of Get Honey and turn the rack for even cooking. Once the salmon bites reach 140 degrees, pull the rack off the grill and bring the bites for a quick rest before serving.

Enjoy!

In five minutes, I just put down something a bit healthier and more unique for dinner or a charcuterie board if a seafood one is in the cards. As a meal, it can be served with rice, asparagus, and a little bit more of Get Honey drizzled on the bites. It also qualifies as a midweek meal that can also work for meal prep.

Thank you for reading this post. Go outside and cook something awesome this week! Grilling is not the same as barbecuing: Grilling doesn't take very long while barbecue requires time, a consistent fire (pellets or gas, if you get down like that), and a reliable citizen who can maintain a smoker at a lower temperature. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Here Come the Lemon Steppers: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

Here come the lemon pepper steppers.

Wanna become the star that kills it for the next cookout? One way to become that legend is by grilling lemon pepper chicken wings. With the way folks have gotten heated over drums and flats (I'm a flat kind of guy myself, but I'm not opposed to the drums), one way to be remembered as a backyard legend is throwing these dudes on a charcuterie board and yelling, "Mamba out!"

INGREDIENTS 

2.5 lbs chicken party wings

AC BBQ's Lemon Stepper rub*

MARINADE

2 cloves of minced garlic

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp avocado or extra virgin olive oil 

AC BBQ's Lemon Stepper rub*

*AC BBQ is a joint project between Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer that reduces salt in barbecue rubs. For the first usage, I found Lemon Stepper to be pretty dope - and their other rubs are found at Walmart for $2.50 each. Clearly I cannot use my initials to move barbecue, but nevertheless, this is good stuff. -ACedA

STEP ONE. Pluck the feathers and trim the ugly bits of each wing part. We want people to eat chicken, not be chicken. After that, add them to a Ziploc bag along.with the marinade. For larger batches, upsize in proportion always being careful of the amount of lemon in the marinade; the objective is to have balanced wings, not lemon bombs. Place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours turning halfway to ensure even coverage on all of those wings.

STEP TWO. Once the marinade timeline is up, place each wing on a wire rack and add another shaking of Lemon Stepper to these party starters on all sides. They are on a wire rack not only to drip dry some of the excessive marinade but also make for easier transport to the grill. 

STEP THREE. Peep the important part: lighting the grill. Get it ready with the two-zone fire we have all come to love, and once that happens,  place the wings on the indirect side. If you own a vortex, simply pour the coals in it and allow the grill to come to temperature before laying each piece along the kettle's edges. Turn every four minutes to get the desired color and char, but remember that chicken wings are done at least 175 degrees. I actually took these guys up to 190 before pulling for a quick rest and faster building of the boneyard. 

There you have it, some dang good wings. 

Before I walk off with this flat, let me first thank you for reading this post. As Arkansas winter becomes less psychotic, go outside and cook something awesome for your party of one to one million. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Back To Work: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Chicken Cordon Bleu

The off-season just ended.

Like most everyone else, your friendly pitmaster needed to reset upon the new year and as usual, that reset included cleaning the grills and smoker before covering them for the January break. With the snow and ensuing ice, I wasn't going back outside to stand around in 8 degree weather cooking dinner as the dog whimpered to return inside from his bathroom breaks. Yet, I still needed a break from barbecue: I had cooked weekly since mid-August for not only Tailgating For Everyone but also multiple turkeys for Thanksgiving, the traditional Christmas ribs, pork loins for a catering job or two, rib tips to welcome 2024, a slew of pork butts, shoulders, and briskets, and the sauces.

(Come take some of these sauces off my hands - my wife wants a built pantry for our kitchen).

January was that break.

Once we turned the page to February, the off-season (for however brief it was) ended. It's time to get back to work.

The first official cook of 2024 is an easy one, and potentially a midweek classic for the repertoire: chicken cordon bleu. 

INGREDIENTS 

Chicken breasts

Sliced deli ham

Swiss cheese

Your favorite chicken rub (in this cook, I used Fire and Smoke Society's Sweet Peeper)

STEP ONE. After taking the chicken breasts out of the packaging, pat them dry and set aside. Begin to cut a slit in each piece deep enough to add the ham and Swiss cheese but try not to slice completely through the bird. Butterflying each breast leads to a pretty flat surface; pounding them down into an even state is your prerogative but I wanted to do a quick meal. 

STEP TWO. Roll the ham and Swiss cheese up before stuffing it into the chicken pocket you created with the cut from the previous step. To do this, get one slice of ham and one (or two) slices of cheese atop the ham and roll it up evenly and stuff it into the cavity. Repeat with as many slices and breasts as needed.

STEP THREE. Don't forget to season all sides of the chicken breasts. Following the Sweet Peeper love fest, insert toothpicks or skewers into each piece to hold the stuffing in there.

STEP FOUR. Light your grill. This is a direct over fire cook, so give the cooker time to get ready. My PK and bag of lump charcoal got today's assignment, so here we are - feel free to use whatever outdoor weapon you own. Once it gets to 350 degrees, bring on the chicken and place it directly over the coals turning once at fifteen minutes. Your chicken cordon bleu is ready when its internal temperature reaches 160. Give it about ten minutes to rest before diving in!

Going back to work never tasted so good!

As an obligatory dog pic, Rocky doesnt want anyone to eat the yellow snow

As always, thank you for reading this post. Throughout the year, new recipes will be worked into the rotation as well as a revision or two of the classics plus perhaps even a secret or two of how the neighborhood goes wild for great barbecue. If there is anything unique that you haven't seen, let me know and not only will I try it but also give appropriate credit when the recipe drops. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

The MLK Archives

Just a quick archival post of what has been written over the years. Click on the links below to read each opinion:

They Don't Hear Me Though

Danger of the Moderate 

Don't Let the Door Hit You Where the Good Lord Split You

Joy Cometh in the Morning 

When Civil Rights Became Silver Rights, America Got Angry

The Other America

50 Years After Martin 

Martin, Environmentalist

Embrace the King

King Economics 

The Third Monday in January 

So In Love

Note: This bit of prose was found in some of my old boxes. It's a 1998 classic, so don't laugh at the sappiness of my thoughts and the infatuation(s) of that era of whom I cannot recall. -ACedA

I remember the very first time I met you, 

You were so radiating, attracted me like metal does to a magnet.

And as we were together, 

Through mostly good times and some bad,

You were there for me, my all and all

I went away for college to find my identity 

To determine if we would be able to stand the test.

You were my best friend through that eternity, and I was there for you when you went away.

As we walk down the aisle together,

In total bliss and complete love,

I know that you are the one for me, and I for you. 

I cannot go one day without thinking about you,

God's gift to me.

To this day I have been and always thankful of who He gave to me;

I have, do, and always will love you.

You mean the world to me,

I'll do anything for you;

All you have to do is ask and I'll give an honest effort. 

I am that much in love with you, no questions asked.

No one deserved such perfection, especially me,

Believe me.

And I will never let you go away from my heart. 

There are things money can buy, like stereo equipment, clothes, CDs, cars, and all that.

However, money can't buy me love.

Today, I just wanna say I'm still in love with you,

The same way I was as when we started out on this journey.